Medea Extra Credit
Andee Whitfield
South Plains College
ENGLISH-2332- World Literature
Mrs. Escamilla
Oct 7, 2022
The song “Mad Women” by Taylor Swift, has very many relations with Medea. After all, Medea is a mad woman, not that she chose to be but she did get betrayed by her husband, resulting in her craziness. Though she shouldn’t have killed her children, she deserves to be a little angry after her situation. I think this song is perfect for Medea, there are so many similarities to her, “Mad Women ‘’ , the title of Taylor Swift’s song, is already one. The very first lyrics, When Taylor sings
“What did you think I’d say to that?
Does a scorpion sting when fighting back?
They strike to kill and you know I will
You know I will”
I think of Medea saying she is capable of anything, she will do anything and she isn’t afraid. Medea is showing that she is a threat, and she’s going to fight back and defend herself.
The lyrics in “Mad Women “ that I think are most related to Medea are when Taylor sings
“But no one likes a mad woman
What a shame she went mad
You made her like that”
It is the very last lyrics of the song and it relates to how Medea really goes mad. She destroys her family and she does the unthinkable. But Jason made her go mad and the last line of Taylor’s song “You made her like that” tells you that.
Euripedes, Medea, pg 756-790
The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Vols. A, B, & C.
Author: Sarah Lawall, ed.
Swift, (2022,7,23) Official lyric video by Taylor Swift performing “mad woman”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DP4q_1EgQQ

Medea Extra Credit
Yazmin Riojas
South Plains College
ENGL-2332
DR. Escamilla
10/7/2022
The song “Mad Women” by Taylor Swift, has many comparisons to Medea, because Medea is in fact a mad women she was let down and betrayed by her husband, which turned her out to be very insane which led her to kill her children. Medea has every right to be a mad woman but killing her children should not have led that far to get payback at jason.
The song relates to Medea in various ways In the song the lyrics say
“What a shame she went mad you made her like that”
Jason made her like that she went mad, because the betrayal of him he brought upon her anger she didn’t even know she might have had shes goes mad and kills her children to make Jason suffer for his actions. Another lyric related to Medea is
“Every time you call me crazy I get more crazy. What about that? And when you say i seem angry i get angry and there’s nothing like a mad women what a shame she went mad”
It relates to Medea, because it’s a real shame she went mad she killed her own children not even thinking. As a result she lost her husband and her children due to her becoming a mad women It gave Jason a wake up call showing she wasn’t playing about the hurt he caused her.
Euripedes, Medea, pg 756-790
The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Vols. A, B, & C.
Author: Sarah Lawall, ed.
Swift, (2022,7,23) Official lyric video by Taylor Swift “mad woman”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DP4q_1EgQQ

Medea Extra Credit

Antonio Romero

South Plains College

ENGLISH-2332- World Literature

Ms. Escamilla

October 5, 2022

The term “mad woman” belongs to a group of women that when pushed to the edge repeatedly by their significant other and then finally being pushed over, become spiteful and dangerous. A prime example of this situation is captured in Euripides Medea. The play tells the story of Medea, portraying her mindset and actions after being betrayed by her Husband Jason. Medea learns that Jason has been having an affair with the Kings daughter and plans to marry her. After giving up everything and betraying her home just to be with Jason, Medea is destroyed by the news of him planning to leave her and their two boys. This revelation and the King exiling Medea in fear of her using her cleverness to plot revenge, finally push Medea into becoming a “mad woman.” Medea becomes overcome with revenge and hatches a plan to kill the King and his daughter. In fear that after she escape her enemies will kill her kids, Medea plans to kill her and Jasons kids believing that the only right way to kill them was their own mother doing it because it was out of love. The madness that Medea went through as result of a bad husband/significant other has echoed through pop culture even having the main theme of the story being made into the song “mad woman” by Taylor Swift. The lyrics of the song make it easy compared to Medea featuring lyrics such as

“No one likes a mad woman

You made her like that

These lyrics clearly resonate how Jason was to Medea. Pushing her with his infidelity and then finally pushing her over the edge when the King exiles her. Jason, trying to be rational, makes it clear that he had no idea how Medea got to the point of madness when it was Jason that made her like that.

Euripedes, Medea, pg 756-790
The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Vols. A, B, & C.
Author: Sarah Lawall, ed.
Swift, (2022,7,23) Official lyric video by Taylor Swift “mad woman”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DP4q_1EgQQ

I interpret this song as an explanation for why she became who she was at the end. The song is about people doubting the woman to act out and her providing reasons as to why she should be entitled to. People are calling her crazy and angry when the man is with someone else. The woman is acting like this because of the man’s implied infidelity. The song says that if you “poke a bear til the claws come out”. I believe that it is the best analogy to describe the woman because she wants to protect herself or was too irritated. The song says “‘move on’ but I won’t”. I thought of Medea and her plan for revenge. “It’s obvious that wanting me dead has brought you two together” reminds me of when Jason’s new woman disliked Medea and wanted her gone. The lyric, “You took everything from me”, reflects Medea’s tragic backstory. She backstabbed her brother, her father, and left her home to never return for Jason. She lost her children because they were the source to get absolute revenge on him. The song is similar to the story because of a tale of a woman being rightfully angry at her man.

Euripides, & Murnaghan, S. (n.d.). Medea. W. W. Norton & Company.
Swift, Taylor Swift. (2020, July 23). Mad woman. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DP4q_1EgQQ..

Alejandro Garcia
South Plains College
ENGLISH-2332- World Literature
Mrs. Escamilla
Oct 7, 2022

“Mad Woman” by Taylor Swift is a song that tells the story of a woman being driven to her limits. This is similar to Medea which is an ancient greek story about how a woman named Medea gets revenge on her husband for his infidelity. In the first verse of the song, she says, “Does a scorpion sting when fighting back? They strike to kill, and you know I will” (Swift. 2020. 0:18). This relates back to Medea because she was put in a position where she could either accept her fate or strike back like a scorpion. Medea and Swift are both willing to strike to kill. The last line of the song also says, “You made her like that” (Swift. 2020. 3:30) This is similar to how Jason made her like that by hurting her feelings when he chose to cheat on her. In the story, after killing her kids Medea says “Well, they are gone, and that will bite deep.” (Euripides. 431 B.C. P. 471). Both stories want to get revenge and bite deep into their enemy.

References:
Work in an Edited Collection:
Euripides. (431 B.C.) Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Literature. In A. Johnson (Ed.) The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Shorter Fourth Edition: Volume 1 (Vol 1., pp. 441-472) https://ncia.wwnorton.com/ebook-worldlit4shorter
Song— Mad Woman:
Swift, Taylor. (2020,7,23). Taylor Swift – mad woman (Official Lyric Video). Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DP4q_1EgQQ